DURHAM, N.C. - Duke seniors Seth Curry and Mason Plumlee
were named to the Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 Watch List, as announced on
Thursday by the Los Angeles Athletic Club.

Curry and Plumlee, both team captains and 2012 All-ACC
selections, are key returning starters for a Duke team that finished 27-7 overall
and 13-3 overall for a second-place ACC finish in 2011-12. Curry returns as
Duke's top scorer after averaging 13.2 points per game last season, while
Plumlee returns as the team's leading rebounder with 9.2 rebounds per game to
go with an average of 11.1 points per game.

Duke was one of seven schools with multiple players on
the Wooden Award Watch List and one of two in the ACC, joining NC State which
had two players. NC State and Duke were selected as the top two teams in the
ACC in the preseason coaches poll and media poll.

The Blue Devils enter 2012-13 ranked No. 8 in the
Associated Press poll, marking 94 consecutive AP polls that have featured Duke
in the top 10. Curry, a 6-1 senior from Charlotte, N.C., scored in double
figures 22 times last season, shooting 42.0 percent from the floor, 38.3
percent from three-point range and an ACC-leading 87.3 percent from the free
throw line. Plumlee posted 12 double-doubles - the most of any returning player
in the ACC this season - while scoring in double figures 20 times and hauling
in 10 or more rebounds 16 times.

Created in 1976, the John R. Wooden Award is the most
prestigious individual honor in college basketball. It is bestowed upon the nation's best player
at an institution of higher education who has proven to his or her university
that he or she is making progress toward graduation and maintaining a minimum
cumulative 2.0 GPA. Previous winners
include such notables as Larry Bird ('79), Michael Jordan ('84), Tim Duncan
('97), Candace Parker ('07 and '08), Kevin Durant ('09) and Maya Moore of
Connecticut ('09 and '11). Kentucky freshman Anthony Davis won the men's Award
in 2012.

Since its inception, the John R. Wooden Award has
contributed close to a million dollars to universities' general scholarship
fund in the names of the All American recipients. The Award has also sent more
than 1,000 underprivileged children to week-long college basketball camps in
the Award's name. Additionally, the
John R. Wooden Award partners with Special Olympics Southern California (SOSC)
each year to host the Wooden Award Special Olympics Southern California Basketball
Tournament. The day-long tournament,
which brings together Special Olympic athletes and the All Americans, takes
place at The Los Angeles Athletic Club the weekend of the John R. Wooden Award
Ceremony.

Follow the candidates and get the latest news throughout
the season by logging on to www.WoodenAward.com or going to the Wooden Award
facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/WoodenAward. For more information on the John R. Wooden
Award, please contact the Wooden Award staff at 213-630-5206 or via email at
woodenaward@laac.net.